We grew up in the Netherlands and moved to Germany in 2003. Together with our dog Duvel we now live in the picturesque Treppenviertel in Hamburg, along the river Elbe. Willem currently works at a ship-owning company. After a career in marketing, Tanja studied illustration design and started twikga, in 2010.

We started travelling together in 1992, when we backpacked around the world. In the following years, we spent most of our holidays in South America. About 15 years ago we made our first safari and have been hooked on African wildlife since. We were lucky to travel with great guides and photographers, who sparked our interest in wildlife photography and taught us a lot.

In the beginning we used a simple camera and stored our precious film in lead-lined bags. By now we have more camera equipment than clothes to carry when we go on safari. Because Tanja uses the photos for her illustrations, there was a necessity to take high quality photos. This made us keen wildlife photographers, using ever faster cameras and better lenses.

Our pictures have become more than the photos behind Tanja’s books. On the Wild Picha website we present a selection of our pictures. Picha means “picture” in Swahili. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us.